I was able to get some gardening done over Spring Break. I decided to use containers this year since the soil around here is mostly sand with very few nutrients. My backyard also has no shade and once the Florida days turn hot and long very few plants can take it, and those plants that do not get burned up by the sun get drowned by the summer rains. These containers are on the east side of the house so they get direct morning and indirect early afternoon sun and are protected from the rain. (Well, as much as anything can be protected from the Florida summer rains.) I planted hot peppers, sweet peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries along with a mix of herbs including basil (sweet and Thai), oregano, mint, and chives. Most of the containers were from recycled cat products. A few I already had, and a few I got from co-workers. The buckets on the end marked “ale pail” were from a chemistry professor who teaches a class on brewing beer. Thanks to everyone who provided me with containers.

Aside from planting “my crops,” I wanted to make some terrariums. I had a hard time finding good containers, but I did come across these and made some kinda, sorta terrariums. I came up with the idea for a cactus in a margarita glass by myself, but I am sure about a million Pinterest posts have this exact idea.

I also replanted the hanging planters on my porch. They now contain zinnias, African marigolds, and fuchsia. The original hanging containers cracked so I drilled some holes in plastic pots and strung them up with some chain. Bonus points for getting to use my drill for this project and the container gardening.